Late last week I wrote about our college guidance process and the choices made by the members of the Class of 2015. Looking behind the process and at the students, it is hard to imagine that these are the same people who began high school four short years ago and who entered Kindergarten 13 years ago, which is less than the average tenure of an LREI teacher. It was made a little easier to see the former child inside the seniors, at least for a subset of them, when those members of the twelfth grade who moved up from our eighth grade returned to the middle school for an assembly last week. At our annual senior recognition assembly, lower and middle school teachers shared memories from the seniors’ younger days. Though they are on the cusp of adulthood, for a moment they seemed quite young again. Very sweet! Tangentially, yesterday we welcomed the 61 rising ninth graders. The roughly half who are entering from outside met the half who are moving up from the eighth grade and all were introduced to their advisors and peer leaders. A new beginning.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have another beginning. Seemingly focusing on a different species, on Tuesday we welcomed the incoming Fours and Kindergartners for a brief visit. My first thought on walking into one of the Fours rooms to say “Hello” to the children and parents was “How cute!” They are cute, of course, but this really sells these children short. Once the wave of cuteness passed, I realized just how hardworking and focused the students were during their visit. Appropriately childlike—chatty, giggly, a little nervous—but deeply interested in the rooms, in the materials at hand and in each other. They all knew what to do. Put out some puzzles, crayons, paper, Lego and watch the children get busy. There was very little adult mediation. Few introductions needed and let the learning begin. This is the way that learning works best. Teachers create meaningful and compelling opportunities to develop skills and to learn about the world and the children are drawn in by the sense of purpose offered by these experiences. We see this progressive approach working throughout a child’s time at LREI. It was wonderful to see it in action before these children’s official first day.
Announcements
- In preparation for our centennial celebration in 2021, LREI is moving full steam ahead with our long-term archives project. Lower school parent Yukie Ohta, a professional archivist, is leading the charge. Click to read Yuki’s blog on LREI Connect.
- Congratulations to the Varsity Softball and Varsity Baseball teams for their outstanding seasons and for making it to the championship games!!
- Congratulations to the Varsity Track Teams on another outstanding season. The girls team won another league championship and the boys came in third in their league. Members of both teams are off to the State Championships next week. Go Knights!